Her Arranged Alpha Husband by Alicia Banks
Chapter 17
Ben
Pushing deep in Teri was probably the best feeling that Ben had ever had. He knew that Fate was right as soon as he felt the inside of her. Whatever was going to happen next didn’t matter, not anymore. Now, Ben knew that Teri was his and he was never going to let her go.
He held her still for several moments, letting their connection seep in and kissing away all of her fears and pain. He didn’t want to hurt her, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. He didn’t. Ben needed her and once she was past the initial discomfort, she became just as pushy as she had been before. Ben hadn’t wanted it to be so soon after he had played with her, but Teri hadn’t let the time between them fix anything. She had insisted, and Ben hadn’t been able to hold back. He was far too worried about her now, her sheath suffocating his length and the urge she had to make him go fast. He held back as long as he could, but when she moaned into his ear and asked for more, Ben was again unable to say no. Any semblance of control that he’d once had was gone. Long gone.
Ben moved in quickly and deeply, setting her up for a great fall. He could feel her desires ratcheting up, and it was hard for him to focus on much of anything else. She just felt that good. There was nothing else that Ben could do but hold on. As she came loud and proud underneath him, he again tried to settle her down with his lips. This time though, his hips didn’t listen or stop pushing deep. Teri was screaming out his name, the sound more than he could take, and Ben lost himself within her. It was too fast, and he growled at himself and the lack of control. He wanted more of her, but she was likely going to be sore. He hadn’t been gentle. Ben wished that he had been able to control himself better. He was ashamed that he had lost himself so completely. What was wrong with him?
Teri was shaking underneath him, and he moved off of her, slipping out and making them both sound off the way it felt. Ben wasn’t sure what he was going to do now. He wanted more, but knew he would have to wait. He asked her if she was okay and Teri nodded, not vocalizing any of it. If Ben had to guess, he would imagine that he gave her more than she was expecting or prepared for. That’s what it was.
“I’m sorry, Teri…”
Teri waved him off. “Don’t ruin it by apologizing, Ben. I don’t want you to think of me as a victim. That was wonderful and I’m not going to feel bad about it.”
Her words shut him up. The last thing that he wanted to do was ruin what was going on between them. It all felt so good and there was nothing more that he could ever want. If she was happy, then he was happy. He pulled her in and though it hadn’t all gone the way he wanted; it was just what he wanted afterwards. He felt so close to her, and Teri fell asleep in his arms. She was finally his and the heirs that he needed were where they needed to be. Ben didn’t know how to feel about all of it, but he watched her sleep with caution, knowing that he wanted nothing more than to wake her up and see what would happen next. Ben had a feeling if he tried, she wouldn’t be able to say no to him.
***
Teri woke up with a start and she jerked up. Ben touched her hand and told her that everything was okay. He was next to her, watching her, and he told her that everything was okay.
“There are people coming. We should leave.”
Ben looked at her with a question in his eyes. “What do you mean?”
Teri shrugged. “I just had the most intense dream, and we were attacked. I don’t usually have dreams like that, but many of them come true.”
Ben didn’t know that about her. She could see into the future with dreams? Where had she learned that? It didn’t matter at the moment. He had to get her out of there. Nothing was going to happen to her, Ben wouldn’t let it happen. He had to get her away and back to the safety of their home. Now that she wasn’t so impressionable, Ben was excited to bring her home. There, she would be safer than she was ever going to be with him. For just a second as they prepared to take off, Ben had to wonder if it wouldn’t have been easier to have left her at home in the Valley. There, no one tried to kill her, and she wasn’t so cold all the time that her teeth were chattering. It was hard for him to keep her warm when they were running, which was exactly what they were doing. Ben wished that things were different, better, but she had a vision, and they were meant to heed the warning.
They both shifted into their beasts, Teri a jet-black wolf that was smaller than him, but she had fierce purple eyes. She was more than he had ever imagined her to be. Ben was sure that he would owe his Fate for her. He didn’t like to owe for anything, but to have her brought to him and for her to be his, he should be really grateful for it, and he was. Ben couldn’t imagine anything going the wrong way now. He had Teri and that was all that mattered.
The run lasted the rest of the day and when they finally stopped for the night, both of them were exhausted. The movement had helped keep the cold at bay, but she was pressing her body up against his quickly after they stopped. She said that she was likely going to freeze.
“If you don’t think about it, it’s not that cold.” Ben had been told that when he was little and while it didn’t sound right, he had learned that it was true. He just had to focus on something else. Her fur would get thicker, as would her tolerance to the cold, he hoped, but for now he could trick her mind into thinking that she was perfectly warm. All she had to do was take her mind off of it.
He held her tight against him, long after she had fallen asleep. They weren’t in a warm bed at home, but Ben was close enough that he could feel the land imbuing him with power. The closer he got to home, the stronger he would become. Mating with Teri had brought him closer to being the Alpha, and it felt like he had gotten something extra from her as well. Being with his fated mate had made him realize that she was so much more than his mate. Teri was another well of strength to draw from. As his children grew in her belly, their connection would be stronger than ever, and he would have all of their strength to draw from as well. Not only did Teri bring him love that he desperately needed, but she had strengthened him in a way that he hadn’t known was possible. He wanted to hold her all night, staring at her and trying to figure out how he was so lucky to have her.
About the time that Ben was about to drift off, he heard a branch crack underfoot of someone. He was immediately awake, ready to battle whatever had come for them. Ben was sure that he was going to lose Teri. She was too good, too perfect for him to have for long.
He waited in the dark for a moment, his eyes already adjusted to it, and he could see as well as if it was daylight. He stopped his fantasy of killing them once he saw who it was. Mark was standing not too far away. Ben thought that he had breezed by them all. Why was he there? What did he want and why was he looking toward Teri with disappointment in his eyes?
“Finally convinced her I see.”
Ben scoffed. That was the first thing that Mark said to him. He wanted to tell him to piss off. He was so mad about what happened and what he had tried to do. It was just as well that Mark knew he wasn’t happy with him.
Ben wanted to rip his face off, but he was still too happy for violence. He was worked up and had only thought about getting Teri to safety. He wouldn’t have really thought about how it would look to Mark and the rest of his people. He wasn’t trying to leave them in the dust, but if his mate and their unborn children were in danger, Ben had to act for her first.
“Where did you go?”
Ben asked him if they had encountered any trouble. Mark was surprised to know that Ben already knew about the attack. He hadn’t known really, but he had known that Teri thought so. Something had told him that he should listen to her, and the look on his second’s face told him that she had been right.
“Yes, we were attacked. We lost a few.”
Ben wanted names, and he was saddened that some of his people were attacked. They didn’t know who it was, an attack in the darkness, but Mark was sure that it was going to be okay.
“Did you kill them?” Ben wanted to know. It wasn’t okay until whoever tried to hurt Teri was dead.
That was the only way that anything was going to work. “Yeah, we killed them, but we didn’t get anything out of them. I don’t know who they were, but they didn’t seem to be from around here.”
Ben waved him off and Mark was surprised. “How did you know about the attack and to leave?”
He smiled. “What, are you afraid that I have a better second now?”
It took Mark a moment to understand that Ben was talking about Teri. He looked like he had been shot, surprise and shock on his face and in his eyes. Ben felt the same way. How had Mark not known? How had he let someone get so close and how could he trust him with what happened with Teri? Ben was looking at his best friend a bit differently, and he didn’t like it. Not one bit. He wanted to trust him, but not when it came to Teri. Ben doubted that he was ever going to trust anyone with her. She was too delicate, and he was afraid of losing her.
